Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Purchases 86,916 Shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of General Mills, Inc. (NYSE:GIS) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 410,787 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,916 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.07% of General Mills worth $26,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GIS. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 4.8% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 22,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,492,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Mills by 45.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,867 shares of the company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,828 shares in the last quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its stake in General Mills by 2.1% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,955,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in General Mills by 2.3% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 279,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,935,000 after acquiring an additional 6,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of General Mills by 15.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GIS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of General Mills from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on General Mills from $68.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on General Mills from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on General Mills from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.18.

General Mills Stock Performance

GIS stock opened at $66.20 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $66.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.14. The firm has a market cap of $37.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.15. General Mills, Inc. has a 1-year low of $60.33 and a 1-year high of $90.89.

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The company reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $5.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.97 billion. General Mills had a return on equity of 26.84% and a net margin of 12.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Mills, Inc. will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current year.

General Mills Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. General Mills’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,483 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other General Mills news, insider Jonathon Nudi sold 7,671 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.15, for a total transaction of $492,094.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 102,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,602,574.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Jeffrey L. Harmening sold 60,056 shares of General Mills stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.44, for a total value of $3,870,008.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,523,044.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,782 shares of company stock worth $5,057,820 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

About General Mills

General Mills, Inc manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates through four segments: North America Retail; International; Pet; and North America Foodservice. It offers grain, ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream and frozen desserts, nutrition bars, and savory snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables.